Trump’s coronavirus advice to kids: ‘You have a duty’ to wash your hands, stay home

President Trump on Friday shared his advice to schoolchildren during the coronavirus pandemic, encouraging them to behave, wash their hands and stay at home. 

Trump made the comment during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House after a reporter asked what he would say to the millions of children at home as schools across the country have closed due to the virus. The reporter joked his kids want to “crawl on the walls” and his wife “is about to lose it.”

“I would say that you are a citizen of the greatest country anywhere in the world. And we were attacked like nothing that’s happened possibly since 1917, many, many years ago. We were attacked and we are winning the battle and we are going to win the war and, hopefully, it’s not going to take that much longer,” Trump responded.

President Trump is asked what his message is to America’s children who are at home during coronavirus: “They should just sit back and be very proud of our country” https://t.co/ocBDOZspI5 pic.twitter.com/IRpQCwlVVm

— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 27, 2020

“I would say that they have a duty to sit back, watch, behave, wash their hands, stay in the apartment with mom and dad … and just learn from it,” he continued. “Young people have been tremendous. Some of them are very happy not to go to school. They should just sit back and be very proud of our country. Ultimately we are doing it for them.”

Students across the country from primary schools to college have had their classes canceled and are shifting to online learning in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

Schools have been closed in every state. An interactive map by EdWeek shows the varying school closures state-by-state, which range from short-term closures until the end of the academic year to indefinite closures in California and North Dakota. 

On Friday, coronavirus cases in the United States surpassed 100,000, marking a new milestone just one day after the U.S. surpassed China and Italy as the country with the most known cases of COVID-19.